Georgia Harrison warns about explicit images leading children to suicide

Family & ParentingLifestyle
10 Sep 2026 • 4:43 PM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

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Georgia Harrison warns about explicit images leading children to suicide

TV star Georgia Harrison has warned that failure to take action on explicit images could lead children to suicide.

The 31-year-old found fame on reality shows The Only Way Is Essex and Love Island, but in recent years has turned her hand to campaigning on violence against women and girls after becoming a victim of revenge porn.

Celebrity Big Brother winner Stephen Bear was convicted of sharing a private film of them having sex in 2022 and jailed a year later.

Georgia Harrison has turned her hand to campaigning on violence against women and girls after becoming a victim of revenge porn (Lucy North/PA) (PA Archive)

Harrison discussed the rise of children and teenagers as victims of non-consensual intimate image abuse online while appearing on ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Thursday.

“I’ve got so many people coming through to my Instagram, younger people seeking help, but also parents that don’t know what to do,” she said.

“I just think of these people going through what I experienced but at a time in your life where you’re still learning who you are.

“You’re so vulnerable. You’re not able to deal with these issues.

“I just don’t think I could have coped at like 13, 14 or 15, walking into school, having everyone talk about it.

“It’s all-encompassing, and that’s why it is leading children to suicide.

“They are specifically getting targeted by people to do these things to them, and it needs to stop.”

During her appearance on the morning news programme, which coincided with World Suicide Prevention Day, Harrison also discussed her current campaign urging for a “kill switch” to immediately pause the spread of sexual image abuse online.

Online platforms in the UK are currently legally required to remove intimate image content shared without permission within 48 hours of receiving a report under new laws which came into force this year, according to the Government website.

Harrison said: “I was a victim of intimate image abuse myself, and the laws were very different then.

“We didn’t actually have the 48-hour takedown, so it was spreading across the internet. To date, it’s been viewed by millions of people.”

Georgia Harrison is campaigning for a ‘kill switch’ to immediately pause the spread of sexual image abuse online (Peter Byrne/PA) (PA Archive)

“I just don’t think 48 hours is good enough,” Harrison continued.

“What I’m calling for is a ‘kill switch’.

“As soon as you see something that is deemed intimate image abuse specifically, you report it and it comes down.

“Then the onus is on the person who uploaded it to prove that it was consensual.

“If they can’t prove that, it stays down, and then the evidence goes to the victim should they want to use it in court in the future.

“It’s like your house is on fire and you’re watching it burn down – and 48 hours is too late.”

Harrison also highlighted the issue of AI-generated child sexual abuse images, and said that in “one click”, certain apps can be used to “show you naked” or “in a sexual act”.

Georgia Harrison after she was made an MBE for services to online privacy and cybercrime awareness (Andrew Matthews/PA) (PA Archive)

She continued: “They’re so easily accessible still in the UK.

“They have been banned.

“Technically it’s illegal, but they’re still out there, aren’t they? And they’re easy to find.

“Kids are having devices that do so many things, and they’re being trusted to use this technology that they’re just not old enough to understand or navigate.”

Harrison became outspoken about image-based sexual abuse in 2023 after she waived her right to anonymity during the trial of her ex-partner Bear, also a reality star.

In 2025, she was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to online privacy and cybercrime awareness.

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